Idsall School

School Trips

The school runs a very wide and exciting programme of trips in this country and abroad. In order to run the trip we have to raise the cost of transport, board and lodging, expert tuition and hire of equipment. According to the 1988 Education Reform Act we can charge for the board and lodging costs but we can only raise the other costs by voluntary contributions. However, the trip can only go ahead if the level of support is sufficient. Families on low income may be able to apply for assistance through the school, particularly if it is to meet compulsory course requirements.

There is a skiing trip to Europe each year organised by members of staff. The Humanities Faculty actively promotes both GCSE and A level trips to Iceland, China and Morocco in recent years. The History Department has arranged tours of World War Two battlefields in France and Belgium, and the Art Department has organised various trips to Paris, Italy and the United States to visit art collections. There are also annual sports tours for netball, volleyball, football and tennis.

Most recently, the Outlook Expeditions offer to Years 11-13 have taken small groups of committed students and staff to Venezuela for 16 days to explore the Amazon jungle around Angel Falls and beach activities on the Caribbean Sea. In 2015 the excursion is to Macchu Picchu, Cusco and the Andes mountains in Peru for 25 days.

Nearer home, there are regular visits for Geography, Art, Law and Maths. The English and Drama Departments arrange frequent visits to the theatre as part of a wider extra-curricular enrichment offer. Each June, there are “no demerit” extra-curricular sports activities, such as archery and climbing wall, held on the school site as a reward for Outstanding behaviour and role model citizenship. The culmination of an exciting school year is the Activity Day held on the ultimate day of Activity Week in July where students in Years 7-9 have the opportunity to go to Waterworld in Stoke-on-Trent, Alton Towers in Staffordshire, London West End theatre weekend, cricket ground visits such as Lords in London, cinema and bowling in Telford or ice skating as well as more unusual activities like a scuba try dive.

All trips are expensive to organise and run, and their viability is dependent upon voluntary parental contributions.

Year 7 Teambuilding Residential Experience

Year 7 pupils have the opportunity to take part in a residential course in Plas Caerdeon in North Wales. Owned and operated by Liverpool Hope University, Plas Caerdeon Outdoor Education Centre in North Wales delivers residential outdoor activity courses to a wide range of external groups, including schools, youth groups of all ages, university students and staff.

The outdoor activity centre, a member of the Association of Heads of Outdoor Education Centres (AHOEC), is set in 18 acres of private, secluded woodlands within the Snowdonia National Park, North Wales overlooking the Mawddach Estuary - often described as one of the most beautiful in Britain.

As with many extra activities organised by the school, residential courses can only run if the cost is met by parents. Information about this is available early in September, and most families pay by instalments through the year.

Year 9 Duke of Edinburgh

Each year many students in Year 9 embark on the Duke of Edinburgh Award, which is run by the PE department. Each student can follow programmes at three levels, which when completed, lead to a Bronze, Silver or Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award. You achieve your Award by completing a personal programme of activities in four sections (five if you're going for Gold) - Volunteering, Physical, Skills, Expedition and for Gold, a Residential. You'll find yourself helping people or the community, getting fitter, developing skills, going on an expedition to the Peak District or Snowdonia or the Shropshire Hills. At Gold level, which is run in the Sixth Form and upwards there is also a residential activity. See our DofE page for more details.

Idsall School is a charity and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales with company number 08976748 whose registered office is at Idsall School, Coppice Green Lane, Shifnal, Shropshire, TF11 8PD